Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialMy Fantasy Booking Part 3: Roman Reigns: SummerSlam Through Next Year's WrestleMania

My Fantasy Booking Part 3: Roman Reigns: SummerSlam Through Next Year’s WrestleMania

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Yeah, I know, it’s been a while. I was gonna finish this article a while ago, but I got caught up in a lot of things (also had a find a new name for the series as I found out the old one was actually exactly the same as WhatCulture’s series, my bad on that one) but here I am now to finally wrap this Roman Reigns article up. Now keep in mind, I’m still going by the other 2 articles I worte, so read those 2 before you read this one otherwise you’ll be just confused, and I know that this isn’t gonna be how they do it yes but that’s not what this is about. It’s about what we think they should do. So without further adieu, let’s get started
So when we let off Roman was hot off a rivalry with Dolph Ziggler, in which he came out victorious, and now the second biggest show of the year, SummerSlam (or third depend on where the Royal Rumble ranks I suppose) is on the horizon. So it’s the Raw after BattleGround, and the Authority amidst a power struggle with The Rock (an article that will be written at another time) who is doing anything and everything in his power to screw with the Authority and keep them out of meddling with the main event any further than they already have in the past, and throughout the whole night everyone keeps asking the question “who’s gonna be Roman’s opponent?” Finally, after bringing up many heels that could face Roman for the title and having them shot down by the Great One, saying that a marquee event needs a marquee match with marquee names. (maybe not exactly that, but you know what I mean) So finally, he says that he has an idea to make things interesting, and announces that at the end of the night Roman Reigns will decided who his opponent at SummerSlam will be. Finally fast forward to the end of the night, and Roman simply grabs a microphone and says “my opponent for SummerSlam is John Cena.” (and when I say this is all he says, I MEAN this is all he says) Cena comes down to the ring, and just has a stare down with Reigns to end the night. Over the next couple of weeks, the build up to the match has to be unique, so I would keep both men out of in ring competition in the weeks leading up. Have them present on the show, and have them do segments and whatnot with each other, but it would make the match more of an attraction if neither man got into a match in the build up to it, and if they do it should be 1 or 2 matches that make them look damn good in them, and before anybody gets on my high horse for not wanting a defending champion, just remember, Ric Flair barely ever wrestled on free TV in the mid to late 80’s when he was World Champion, which made it more special to see when he DID defend it, and all I’m saying is the same kind of logic applies here. Another theme to make the build up special, neither man should be bombastic or loud or even so much as lay a hand on each other. You may be thinking “well where’s the fun in that?” But not many people take into account that “with direction” John Cena can cut VERY good promo’s, and is actually incredibly gifted on the microphone. While Reigns may not be so lucky, his character never really needs to talk much in any build up, he’s a big guy with a very special presence about him, and that will be enough.
The last Raw before SummerSlam, it’s the contract signing of the match to make it official. Both men sign the contract, and John Cena tells Roman Reigns “Look, I respect what you’ve accomplished and everything you’ve been through in your career. I respect what you did to fight against the Authority and the great lengths you went to to get the WWE Championship and even more importanly, be the first man the pin Brock Lesnar since he broke the Streak. It’s impressive no doubt, but I don’t think you have any idea what you’re going against. You see I’ve been in this company a lot longer and I’ve had to go through some things to get my championship back. I’ve had to go through TLC Matches, Hell in a Cell matches, Iron Man Matches. I’ve faced off agaisnt everyone from Triple H and Chris Jericho to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. I’ve been to the mountain top a lot of times, and I know what it takes to get there and stay there, but you’ve only been in this position for a couple of months. You may be talented and you may be damn good Roman Reigns but make no mistake you are no John Cena yet my friend not by a long shot, and if you wanna be that guy and you wanna be face that runs the place, then you’ve got to take that place from me because for me all I have to do is do what I do all the time and that’s win, but you’ve got to beat John Cena clean in the ring. The pressure is all on you Roman, and my only question is will you crack and collapse under it? Or thrive like I did, like so many of the other greats have done, and become the next diamond in this business.” And thrusts the mic in Roman’s chest. Roman stops for a second, grabs the mic and simply says, “You’re right John, I am no John Cena, but I am Roman Reigns. And at SummerSlam, I’m gonna show you and the entire world over exactly why that should be a name to remember” and drops the mic and immediately attacks Cena. All of the weeks of no contact and no attacking and it all comes to a head now, both mean try and brawl and pound on the other, but security and roster members come out to hold the 2 men back from brawling, and that’s the end of the show.
Finally it’s the night, SummerSlam, and the main event is John Cena vs Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. We see both men getting ready backstage before they come to the ring, and when they both come into the ring they stare eye to eye, nose to nose, just getting in each others face. Throughout the match there are certain spots and moments that obviously need to take place, some of mine would include: A Japanese style slap fight, a Five Knuckle Shuffle reversed out of nowhere into a Spear, Cena catching Roman in mid air from a Superman Punch to AA him, and maybe even some blood shed from both men. Finally it’s nearing the end of the match, and both men are so beaten and tired that they’re practically leaning on each other for support, when Cena hits a second AA on Reigns and pins him, but Reigns kicks out. Cena puts him in the fireman’s carry, goes to the second rope, and AA’s Roman off of the turnbuckle. He pins him again. 1 2, and Roman kicks out again at the very, very last second. You can see the frustration and utter shock in Cena’s face when Roman kicks out, so he picks him up again, since he’s basically limp at this point, for one last AA but Roman slips behind John and pushes him into the ropes and into a huge Spear, and Roman pins Cena with nothing but an arm over him. I would have the match go about 20 minutes or so so that both mean could be believably tired at the end, and it would make both men look just as strong and nearly unbeatable as they should be portrayed, As Roman is trying to get up, we hear Dean Ambrose’s music hit (remember from my other article, he’s Mr. Money in the Bank now) and hits the ring holding his briefcase. He looks at Roman, he looks at the briefcase, but then picks Roman up by the hand before saying something along the lines of “That ain’t how a champion wins” or whatever, pats Roman on the shoulder and walks back out with the briefcase still in hand, allowing his buddy to have his moment. You may think that this should be Dean’s heel turn, and it wouldn’t actually be a bad idea, but the briefcase is going to be a huge piece of the storyline later on.
The night after SummerSlam, the main event is Roman Reigns vs John Cena in a rematch for the WWE Championship on Raw, and while the match is happening and both men are brawling with each other, the entire arena lights go off and come back on and the Wyatt Family are standing all around the ring, surrounding the 2 men, and they absolutely level them. I’m not talking the stuff they always do where they stomp on a guy for a little bit and then Luke Harper kicks him in the face, I’m talking like a Nexus style trashing of the ring and of the guys, before Bray Wyatt hits Sister Abigail on both of them and end the show with him on his knees surrounded by his family, with the WWE Championship in his hands saying “Follow the Buzzards.” The next week on Raw, Bray Wyatt must explain his actions, and I’m not even gonna try and predict what his promo will say but he’d talk about the fact that last year in his feud with Roman Reigns, he beat Roman more than Roman beat him, and that he’s never gotten a one on one match for ANY championship, let alone the World Championship, and that he deserves one because with the Championship, Bray is more powerful than ever. John Cena comes out and says that he doesn’t appreciate Bray beating him down last week and costing him his championship match, and that he also doesn’t too much appreciate the fact that Bray is out here lobbying for a match he didn’t earn, when The Authority comes out and tells John that since he lost his match clean at SummerSlam, he’s not exactly entirely deserving either, so The Rock comes out, and tells everyone that to settle things he has booked a match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt for the number one contender’s spot to WWE Championship, and obciously Bray uses some Wyatt Family shenanigans to beat Cena for the spot, which means at Night of Champions it will be Bray Wyatt vs Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship, which would be an easy feud to book because they’ve already done this with each other before, and it wouldn’t need much filling in as the story is already there. So the next week on Raw, it’s a 6 man tag match between the Wyatts consisting of Bray, Harper and Rowan, and the team of Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and John Cena. Again, the Wyatts win after some shenanigans (preferably from the involvement of another future star in the massive Braun Strowman) and they once again beat the babyfaces down to end the night. I would have the NIght of Champions title match in a DQ finish due to (you guessed it) Wyatt’s interference, which sets up for a rematch of last year at Hell in a Cell between Roman and Bray, only this time the prize is even richer. Again I’m sure I don’t need to explain the build up to the match, because the storyline is there and it would be very similar to how their feud and match was last year, and would see Roman going over again to retain the championship, but this helps the Wyatt Family to look strong and give Bray a pretty good rub by giving him a pinfall victory over John Cena, and giving him multiple shots at the world title.
So now Survivor Series is around the corner, which means it’s time for another marquee match, and the obvious pick for a match at this event would be Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins. This match has been booked to happen only twice in the past 2 years, and both times one of the guys got injured resulting in the match getting cancelled, and with the backstory these 2 have from back in the Shield days, this match needs to happen at some point, and by now Seth will have come back and gotten a full head of steam by beating HHH at SummerSlam (again an article for another time) and is now ready to reclaim his championship after being forced to relinquish it almost a full year ago. Even moreso than the Wyatt Feud, this would have the story built into it, which would make it incredibly easy to book, but the only question is who walks out champion and how? Well, if it were me, I would have Roman retain the title, but not how you think. See, now this match is going to be incredibly special, and with an incredibly special story you need and incredibly special stipulation, and the stiplulation I would choose would be an Iron Man Match, and with an Iron Man Match everyone knows there is usually a 60 minute time limit (sometimes lower) and when the time limit runs up, I would have both men draw each other with an even amount of falls, and then brawl all the way out of the ring and into the crowd and out of the arena. At TLC they would have a rematch, but this time in a Ladder Match, which would once again see Roman retain the Championship with a Superman Punch off of the ladder (just because I loved that spot so much when he did it to Sheamus) knocking Seth through a table.
At the Royal Rumble, Seth would lobby for another rematch against Roman, but would be denied by HHH because A. he lost the matche that he got and B. HHH now hates him, but The Rock says it’s not fair to screw Seth completely, and enters him into the Royal Rumble, but only to get one upped by HHH who enters him at number one. Meanwhile, Roman and Dean are scheduled to do battle at the Rumble in a title match that doesn’t involve the Money in the Bank (like Seth’s situation at the Rumble in 2015) and would fight to a double DQ finish, and Seth would last all the way to the end and win the Rumble at number one. At Fast Lane, Roman and Dean have a rematch with Last Man Standing Rules, but both men are knocked out for a ten count, resulting in draw.
So now it’s WrestleMania season, and the match scheduled currently is Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns at the showcase of the immortals for the richest prize in the business, and the contract signing for the match is closing the Raw after Fast Lane, and just when both men are about to sign the contract, Dean Ambrose comes down to the ring with the Money in the Bank briefcase, and cuts a promo saying “It all started with the 3 of us here in WWE, and now the biggest match in all 3 of our careers will again involve the 3 of us because I’m cashing in my Money in the Bank at WreslteMania to make this a triple threat match” or something at least along the lines of that. Now with this feud, especially going into WrestleMania, you can let all 3 guys do what they want with the build up. I mean obviously you point the story in the general direction of where it needs to go, but other than that they probably have it more than covered. I know that in MY buld up, Ambrose would be the hugest underdog going into the match, as it would only make sense. He’s the only one who’s never held the gold, and the only one who’s never been in a WresltleMania Main Event, and over the next couple weeks the Authority, Seth, and maybe even Roman start to doubt Dean and consider him an afterthought in the match, and start to make fun of him for his lack of experience in this big match situation, and for the fact that he could only get himself in the match with the Money in the Bank contract. A couple of other things to play off story wise, is the hatred and anger between Dean and Seth still, the lack of respect between Seth and Roman, and the tensions between Dean and Roman as the brothers both go into possibly the biggest match of both of their careers. Finally it’s the Raw before WrestleMania, and in an unlikely match, Roman, Dean, and Seth team up to take on Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Luke Harper. (holy shit I know) An incredible match it would surely be, and earlier on you could even play off of how surprisingly well The former Shield are working together, but in the end have them fall apart, and a three way brawl ensues, causing the entire roster to come out and seperate the men from each other. Finally, at WrestleMania, the time has finally come for the triple threat match, and obviously it will deliver on all fronts, in ring performence wise, AND story wise. In the end, after an over year long reign with the title, I would have Dean pin Seth for the win to go home with the Championship, so he can finally get what he deserves, and plus it sets up for a huge rivalry between Dean and Roman for the remainder of THAT year, and another renewal of Dean and Seth’s Rivalry.
Anywho, now that I’ve FINALLY finished this series, let me know if this is how you would have booked Roman Reigns title run, and if not, let me know why and how you WOULD do it. Till next time.

My Fantasy Booking Part 3: Roman Reigns: SummerSlam Through Next Year's WrestleMania
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